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I love when a Gammo excerpt starts with "but". I can hear his phraseology when I read it.

"If they trade the farm for Price and Kemp returns to form and Ethier has a contract year and Puig duplicates 2013 and Kershaw continues to perform like prime-years Koufax, Grienke puts up CY Young numbers and they keep the chicken and beer out of the clubhouse, they could go all the way!"

"BUT, That's all predicated on the fact that Magic Johnson wants to keep spending and Los Angeles doesn't break off into the Pacific Ocean."

It's kind of weird to remember that Joe Torre was the manager of the Dodgers immediately BEFORE their super-team Yankee-imitating period began. If he was 63 and not 73 I'd be sure they're trying to get Mattingly to go away and bring Torre back.

It's easy to forget that the Dodgers won their division in 2008 and 2009, so the "horrible" Frank McCourt era wasn't nearly as bad as some would have us believe.

Also, even if they acquired Price and Tanaka and they performed to expectations, and even assuming that Grienke, Kershaw, and Ryu also stayed healthy and performed to expectations, it's unlikely that their post-season rotation (supposing they made it that far) would be better in terms of current season's performance than Detroit's was this year. It may be easily remembered that Detroit didn't even make the World Series, let alone win it. So I would say that the Dodgers should hold onto their prospects and focus on improving other areas of the team, like, well, let's see, third base, shortstop, and second base.

Stephen Drew makes a lot of sense for the Dodgers, and wouldn't cost that much or lock them into a long term deal. They could then move Hanley back to 3B, and improve their defense at the same time. I kinda want them go full megabastard club and sign Cano, Tanaka, and Drew, and trade for Price. Then you have 3 of Kemp/Crawford/Ethier/Puig in the OF, Ellis at C, A-gon, Cano, Drew, and Hanley in the IF. They need to add a bench, and the bullpen needs work beyond just Jansen, but that's basically one of the best top to bottom teams I've ever heard of. If they didn't win 100 games it'd be a huge letdown.

I agree with Vaux, having that rotation stay healthy they might win 120 games in the regular season. But it wouldn't help them that much more in the postseason, barring the aggressive use of piggyback starters. It would protect them from major injury, though. A staff of Kershaw/Price/Greinke/Matsuka/Ryu, with Beckett and Billingsley also signed for next year and with options on Harang and Capuano could take some serious injuries before they'd even have to try finding a starter when one of the front line guys goes down.

"I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much."

That was exactly my thought when I read this headline. Maybe add in "Mattingly, there's no way we can lose this division unless, of course, our five aces fall victim to five separate misfortunes and are unable to play the entire season. But that will never happen. One misfortune, that's possible. Three misfortunates, there's an outside chance. But five misfortunes? I'd like to see that!"

Stephen Drew makes a lot of sense for the Dodgers, and wouldn't cost that much or lock them into a long term deal.

I've been listening/watching the coverage of the Red Sox "Duck Boat" Victory Parade much of the day, and the dominant question about the 2014 team is whether or not the team will make qualifying offers (about a $14.1 million, one-year offer) on the group of players who are free agents. That list includes:

Saltalamacchia
Drew
Ellsbury
Napoli

Ellsbury and Napoli are seen as no-brainers. Ellsbury will reject it and go get a long-term deal that Boston won't match, and then the Red Sox will pick up a draft pick. Napoli really wants to stay in Boston, and the expectation is that they figure out a two-year deal with some injury protection for the Sox, not unlike this year.

The sense is that Salty will receive a qualifying offer, and will likely reject it, because he sees this as the best time he'll ever have to get a three-year (or longer) deal. He may be surprised at how few teams want to give up a draft pick for him...

This brings us to Drew. The team is pretty clear - they are going to make Drew a qualifying offer. They strongly feel Boras will reject it, and that he will be willing to take a little less money per-year to get a three year deal (say, 3 yrs, $33m). If he decides to accept the offer, they'll eat a lot of his salary, and trade him to somebody.

Here's the thing - is there any way the Dodgers or Yankees will sign Drew to a deal that forces them to give the Red Sox a first-round pick (and the draft slot money that comes with it)? No friggin' way!

The Dodgers are going to have to trade for a SS, not sign one, if they want to keep a draft pick.

"If they trade the farm for Price and Kemp returns to form and Ethier has a contract year and Puig duplicates 2013 and Kershaw continues to perform like prime-years Koufax, Grienke puts up CY Young numbers and they keep the chicken and beer out of the clubhouse, they could go all the way!"

"BUT, That's all predicated on the fact that Magic Johnson wants to keep spending and Los Angeles doesn't break off into the Pacific Ocean."

This brings us to Drew. The team is pretty clear - they are going to make Drew a qualifying offer. They strongly feel Boras will reject it, and that he will be willing to take a little less money per-year to get a three year deal (say, 3 yrs, $33m). If he decides to accept the offer, they'll eat a lot of his salary, and trade him to somebody.

Here's the thing - is there any way the Dodgers or Yankees will sign Drew to a deal that forces them to give the Red Sox a first-round pick (and the draft slot money that comes with it)? No friggin' way!

The Dodgers are going to have to trade for a SS, not sign one, if they want to keep a draft pick.

Hanley Ramirez still has a year left on his deal. I don't know where the Dodgers suddenly need a SS comes from.

I don't think Hanley is a good defensive SS, so in that sense, if you have no 3B, you might as well move him there. The interesting question, though, is whether playing SS helps his hitting. That'd normally be counterintuitive, but if it's something he takes pride in doing and views as a demotion when he doesn't get to do it, it's possible. It's tough to tell whether the turnaround that began in mid-2012 and blossomed in 2013 stemmed from getting out of Miami, moving back to SS, just getting his head out of his butt, or some of each. It could be argued, though, not to mess with any element of the formula.

* Right now, the hope for the season for the Dodgers is to try to develop Javy Guerra, Chad Billingsley (who spent the offseason working in windmills), and A.J. Ellis, and hope that Juan Uribe grows up and brings them something in a trade.

* Tampa Bay fans often criticize Joe Maddon for being too considerate with his handling of pitchers like David Price and Jeff Niemann, but no one can say that about Brandon Gomes.

* It appears that Paco Rodriguez is ready to step in the rotation, but one of the Dodgers big question marks is whether to make Zack Greinke a starter or a reliever, and then what happens to Kenley Jansen?

* One potentially perturbed pitcher who is suddenly throwing like a kind lamp is Hyun-Jin Ryu, whose big change can be traced to a tater tot he found while touring some TV stations on his winter vacation in California, which when Juan Nicasio heard about it, he insisted on having it, and gave Ryu the secret of his greater confidence in exchange.

* Few places have been affected by the economy more than Los Angeles, so don't look for Ned Colletti to have much payroll flexibility, but. He knows if he can land a Sergio Santos, Pedro Alvarez, or Matt Belisle (Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd is reluctant to deal him, but may if the right deal comes along), the Dodgers still have a chance.

* Los Angeles is going to deal Paco Rodriguez and Andre Ethier and try to sign Shawn Tolleson and keep him out of the market, especially if they can assemble a three-way deal that would send Derek Dietrich to Cincinnati and bring Jonathan Broxton to the Dodgers. Someday, somewhere perhaps Broxton will stop being so jittery.

* There are many who buy into the Dodgers theory that this is Juan Uribe's year to stop being so nutty, and explode.

* What is falling in place with Don Mattingly is a number of tickled confluences: the impact of Brandon League, the arrival of Monster Paco Rodriguez, the return to health of Jose Dominguez (chemically imbalanced forehead) and Stephen Fife (calf) and the monkey-like intensity of Scott Van Slyke, which has allowed Ned Colletti to do the opposite of a garage sale where he tries to get rid of all his parts alongside his used microwaves.

* Between Hyun-Jin Ryu's chia pet, Hanley Ramirez's recovery from his cyst on the calf, Josh Beckett's new fastball, Scott Van Slyke's growing more clean by the day, and the brilliant humor of Vin Scully, the Dodgers could be the surprise team this year.

#21 - based on what I've read from other teams' quotes from management, losing that 1st round slot money really kills their flexibility to go the extra mile with a 2nd,3rd,4th round pick that is thinking college vs pro ball. Because the slot money drops by the round pretty quickly, it's not like simply not signing your 6th or 7th round pick is going to give you lots of money to use on a higher-round pick.

For example, take the Rangers this past June, who had the 23rd pick in the draft (probably not to far from where the dodgers would be drafting in 2014. Here was their slot money:

In other words, the total "cap room" provided with a team's 3rd through 10th round picks are barely more than the room provided by their first round pick. To create flexibility after losing your first round pick, you would need to basically throw away several of your picks between the 6th and 10th rounds...not attractive.

I definitely think the Sox make Drew a QO, and to be honest I think they'd be more than fine if he took the deal. Starting Drew at SS and Bogaerts at 3B in 2014 is hardly a horrible option; Middlebrooks can back-up at 3B and maybe start learning 1B/OF as well in ST.

I don't think the Sox make a QO to Salty. Doing so basically kills the market for him, making it much more likely he'd accept the offer... and there's better ways to spend $14 million than for one year of Salty.

They're in a bit of a pickle at C next year, though I suspect they may just go job-share with Lavarnway and Ross and hope for the best in 2015 with some of the kids they have.

Napoli and Ellsbury definitely get QO. It will be interesting to see how it affects the Ellsbury market. The Phillies, for example, have a protected pick I think, which means that they wouldn't lose as much as if they were picking 12th or 13th; I suspect Ellsbury winds up in CF for the Phillies if I had to bet.

My gut says Drew would overrule Boras and take the offer. What's he giving up, 3/33 ? So what. Worst case you get 1/14, get to play for a good team that just won the W.S., and then go sign 2/20 and come out ahead, right ?

There are enough questions about Drew after his post season, and his high K rate from 2013 that it's unlikely any team is going to give him 3/33 AND give up a first round pick. Drew rejecting a QO is a bad move for him, IMO